BC Rich Mockingbird inspired Through Neck

JGTay

Got a bit more time today, so decided to sort out the pickup cavities before sanding the top again to remove the marks.

First part was marking out the areas and then carefully scoring the lines with a Stanley knife.

Then follow the score marks with a nice sharp chisel, no hammer needed, just plenty of hand pressure.

And then start removing the excess wood, gentle pressure with sharp chisels soon cut through.

Then drilled to depth for the mounting screws.

And tested the pickup in place with some spare pickup rings. Iron Gear Hot Slag pickups. They will have gold covers on them when finished.

Then the same with the neck pickup cavity.

Plenty of adjustment available.

Looking more like a guitar  

Next up will be the truss rod cover, then I can get on with the tidy up and prepare it for Dan to do the paint job.

JGTay

Started on the truss rod cover today, had a few offcuts from the through neck and so marked out a basic shape, then cut off a piece to the depth of the channel.

Cutting past the minimum length line to give excess for sanding.

Bevelled the back edge where it will come in contact with the nut.

 

Then cut to depth for the channel leaving enough for the cover.

And then cut through on each side.

Chiselled off the excess channel piece.

Cut the angles and tested in place.

Rounded the edges.

Put a small bevel on the underside of the front for access.

And then put in the magnets, one on the underside to pull it down and one at the back edge to pull it towards the truss rod end.

One in the channel lined up with the cover magnet.

The white nut will be replaced when I order the actual nut, but for now it gives me an idea of how it all looks.

Can get on with the clean up now, lots of sanding to be done and hopefully it will be ready for when Dan returns from his holiday in Scotland. 

JGTay

Sanded the headstock, truss rod cover, volute and neck up through the grades.

JGTay

Have now sanded everything up through the grades. Dan came round to check everything and he is very happy, the neck shape is exactly how he wants it and is extremely pleased with the progress.

Need to order the rest of the parts now. I can then get the jack plate in and do a test fit of everything before Dan takes it away to do the finish. He has taken the truss rod cover as he wants to do some engraving on it and try out the final colours after some test pieces. 

This is now fully up to date. Just waiting on the funds to come through for the parts he wants. As I say, sorry for posting so much in one go, but will keep it updated regularly as things are done.

JGTay

I also started work on a bass guitar when I got to this point, I will start a new thread for that one tomorrow and get it to it's current state like I have with this one.

WezV

I'm not sure about the sunken bridge idea, how much does the bridge sit above the recess?

I went a different way on my first neck through builds and just thinned down the body section, leaving the neck higher. but also went with a shallower bridge so the neck wasn't sitting too high.  It took a few of those before I was brave enough to do a through neck with a neck angle, but actually it isn't too difficult to pull off

BillDL

And no plunge router to be seen.  It must be extremely satisfying doing all that work using only hand tools.  I wish I was practiced and confident enough to tackle pickup cavities and truss rod trough with hand chisels alone.  I would have to use an elecric plunge router.  It's been a long, long time since i built a guitar from scratch, and I've only built a few, but even then I had to use a rebate / rabbet / plough plane with side guide for the truss rod groove for the first one.

BillDL

Just seen WezV's comment.  That was my worry too on the first of two through necks I made.  The first one I used a body that was thicker than needed, added a miniscule neck angle, and had to do quite a bit of hand planing to reduce the thickness of the body and level everything before adding a very low profile Schaller 3D-6 bridge (https://schaller.info/en/bridges/336/3d-6).  I had a spare shim to raise the bridge if necessary, but it worked out very well in the end and I didn't need a spacer.  I don't know what I would have done if the bridge was too high.  Probably recessed it in a cut out.

JGTay

@Wez I mentioned both ways of doing doing the bridge/neck angle to Dan and he really liked the idea of the sunken bridge. I did a similar sunken bridge on the Def Robot Flying V a couple of years ago and showed Dan the pics. 
I will take some pics later with a straight edge along the frets to show the bridge height. 

JGTay

@BillDL I love using hand tools for guitar builds, very satisfying to see the end results knowing it is fully hand made.
It may take me a bit longer to do things, but I don't mind that.

WezV

its not criticism, just a discussion on process and how to achieve different things with minimal tools, which may help others with similar decisions.  I actually found through necks to be the easiest style of build when I was starting out, but they can be daunting at first

I know Danelectro use this bridge sunken into the body on the DC59 Jimmy Page models.   they don't include the ramps either side like you have, which makes stringing a right ballache  


Bill has mentioned the Schaller 3D bridge, which I have also used a few times as a low profile bridge, but you do have to be careful with this one as the saddles don't work great when left very low.   It doesn't give enough break angle over the saddle and strings can pop out the saddle with a moderately heavy strum

JGTay

I can see that one would be a pain for string changes. A sunken bridge with clearance ramps works very well, stringing up is very easy. 

JGTay

Just had a look back through and noticed I missed out that Dan wants to do a translucent blue finish which will allow the grain to show through. He has all the equipment, spray booth, compressors, etc. and once we have tested out all the components he will take it away and bring it back for me to do the final setup. 

JGTay

This is with a straight edge resting on the first fret and the highest point of the bridge in its lowest position.

JGTay

Should be spot on for string height once the nut is in place.

JGTay

Got round to ordering the parts for this one.

Jack plate in, needs a bit of cleaning up around the edges, had some tear out whilst chiselling it out. Done a bit of filling, but it needs a bit more.

 
Next up was a test fit of all the hardware. The knobs are just to test how it looks, Dan said he is going to make some for it.



Then it was on with the rounding of the fret ends and a clean and polish of the frets.

Have started oiling the fretboard, avoiding the frets, but they will probably need a quick clean up afterwards. Will see how it goes.

Need to get it all ready for when Dan visits a week on Sunday to do a test it to make sure everything is right for him. If he is happy, he should be able to take it away to do the paint job.

JGTay

Have managed to get the side dots done, also the fretboard is oiled and cleaned up. Will need a polish up once the paint job is done, but very happy with how it is looking.





Ready for Dan to test on Sunday, if he is happy I can take off the parts and he can take it away with him for the finishing.  

ThePrettyDamned

Beautiful. I always thought this was a fantastic guitar shape. Amazing work, and amazing thread. 

JGTay

ThePrettyDamned said:

Beautiful. I always thought this was a fantastic guitar shape. Amazing work, and amazing thread. 

Thank you, very much appreciated. 

Yorkie

Inspiring work. Absolute mastery